Srebrenica Memorial Centre director rejects allegations after prosecutors launch financial probe

According to media reports, the District Public Prosecutor's Office in Bijeljina and the Zvornik Police Administration have opened an investigation into alleged financial misconduct at the Memorial Centre. The investigation was reportedly initiated following a complaint submitted last year and is being handled by officers specialising in economic crime.

Responding to the reports, Suljagic said the Memorial Centre's financial operations are fully transparent and conducted in accordance with the regulations governing Bosnia and Herzegovina's state institutions.

"The Srebrenica Memorial Centre is a state institution. All payments are processed through the state treasury system," Suljagic said.

He added that the institution undergoes two independent financial audits each year and stressed that it "has been, and must remain, above any suspicion" regarding the management of public funds.

"Criminalising remembrance"

Suljagic said the investigation should be viewed in the broader context of what he described as continued pressure on the Memorial Centre and survivors of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide.

"This is a tactic we know well: criminalising individual survivors, criminalising memorial institutions and criminalising remembrance itself. This is neither the first nor the last time," he said.

He also criticised the Republika Srpska police, alleging that they institutionally treat the Memorial Centre as a security threat.

Suljagic said the institution would continue to speak publicly about what it sees as attempts to obstruct its work despite ongoing pressure.

The Bijeljina District Public Prosecutor's Office has not publicly commented on the allegations or the status of the investigation.